Teaching Your Dog to Stay Off Your Furniture

As with ANY behavior problem you need to train your dog so it understands EXACTLY what you want. This is known as setting rules.

begin by putting a leash on your dog and sit on the floor next to, or in front of the furniture you want the dog to say off of. When the dog puts a paw on it, or moves to jump up on it, give a light leash correction and say "OFF" or "NO" in a loud and firm tone.

With a Chihuahua or other small breed, the dog may make it up, and on to, the furniture before you make the first few corrections. In this case, use the leash to coax the dog off of the furniture. While doing so, say, "GET DOWN" or "OFF" ... When she is back on the floor praise her for getting down.

Remember, when you are trying to extinguish a behavior your timing is VERY important. You must make the leash correction and the verbal correction at the split second the dog starts to jump up so that she understands what you are correcting her for.